Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo: Revised and Enhanced Edition [Sheet music]

Earl Scruggs (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 1, 2005 | Series: Banjo

The best-selling banjo method in the world! Earl Scruggs's legendary method has helped thousands of banjo players get their start. The "Revised and Enhanced Edition" features more songs, updated lessons, and many other improvements. It includes everything you need to know to start playing banjo, including: a history of the 5-string banjo, getting aquainted with the banjo, Scruggs tuners, how to read music, chords, how to read tablature, the anatomy of Scruggs-style picking, tuning the banjo, exercises in picking, 39 songs, how to build a banjo, making Scruggs tuners, biographical notes, and much more!

Product Details

• Sheet music: 160 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard; 1 edition (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634060430
• ISBN-13: 978-0634060434
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Product Details

• Sheet music: 160 pages
• Publisher: Hal Leonard; 1 edition (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0634060430
• ISBN-13: 978-0634060434
• Product Dimensions: 11.9 x 9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #455,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Earl Scruggs Banjo August 9, 2006

By Everett L. Boxdorfer

Format:Paperback

I started to play banjo or tried to play banjo in the year

of 1969. My uncle got me this book and a record that you could get with the book. After a period of about two years I was playing 5 string banjo like Earl Scruggs, well almost. To make

this story short, this still is a great system to learn banjo.

Everett Boxdorfer

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars He REALLY did "write the book" on Banjo playing! January 2, 2006

By Bill Turner

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Earl Scruggs HAS to be the MOST imitated musician on the planet; when you consider all the 5 string banjos being made in the world, and HOW they are going to be played by the people purchasing them. Granted, some will be played in the traditional Clawhammer/Framming/Drop-Thumb styles which predated Bluegrass by several decades....but the remaining 99.99% will almost certainly be played in the 3 finger style of Earl Scruggs, the author of this nearly 40 year old book. Although many of today's modern 5 string banjoists have expanded the idiom somewhat, into the 'chromatic' or 'melodic' realm and attempt arrangements of jazz and new-age pieces adapted for the instrument...it is STILL the playing of Earl Scruggs that remains as the foundation of it all. The book is well written, well illustrated, easy to follow, and the accompanying CD (or tape) with it is a special treat with Earl himself, speaking each step of the way (in his pleasant down-home North Carolina accent)
This book and CD will get the aspiring picker up and running in a very short time, as Earl starts with the tuning, then the basic fingerpicking patterns, which in combination, and with speed added, will develop into some very good sounding music...played by YOU!
You absolutely CANNOT go wrong with this book...millions of copies have already been sold worldwide. What many people don't know, is that Earl is also an incredible fingerpicking guitarist with a style all his own. I would like to see him publish a book of his guitar stylings--I'll be the FIRST to buy a hardcover of it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Man of constant inspiration March 24, 2006

By D. G. Stuart

Format:Sheet music

One of the best intermediate/advanced banjo instruction books available. Significantly expanded and enhanced from the original version. The updated history of Earl Scrugg's life is required reading for anyone who has ever picked up a banjo. Buy it even if you have the original.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not for Beginners October 4, 2012

By Matt B.

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This book is not for beginners. If you are new to banjo or new to bluegrass music in general, I would recommend an easier book like those written by Wayne Erbsen or Janet Davis. This book is much better suited for someone who has played banjo for a while and has the patience to work through Earl's passages. I know everyone else loves this book and hey it is a great book if you're ready for it. But for someone new to banjo this book will intimidate you and likely discourage you. Don't jump into something too fast, try one of the other books I mentioned first. Work completely through that. Then try learning an easier Scruggs tune like Ballad of Jed Clampett (you can find tabs online). If you are able to do that song to speed, then go ahead and get this book. Otherwise, hold off. Also should point out, the CD is only for the lessons portion of the book, it does not contain any of the tunes or songs. Consequently, you'll need to purchase or download some of Earl's albums. I recommend the Essential Earl Scruggs and/or Foggy Mountain Banjo. These two albums cover about 80% of this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have classic for all bluegrass banjo players. November 9, 2006

By D. McVey

Format:Sheet music

What more can I say that has not already been said? Perhaps a quote from my favorite teacher, Murphy Henry, from her column in the October 2006 Banjo Newsletter: "Start with Earl. Learn the basics the way Earl played them. Those are the tools you need to get you started. You do not have to reinvent banjo playing. Earl has already paved the way."

15 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Start Here March 27, 2006

By Mrmxwll

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

the vast majority of us, on this end of the learning curve, will never be on stage.

we do it for the love of the music, and the fascination

with the results that come from being consumed by practice.

there is no amount of applause that can acknowledge that moment

at 3am, when you suddenly realize that the memory of a lick or a passage, has moved from your brain, to your fingers.

start here.

if you're serious, you'll never look back.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars American Made; World Played April 19, 2012

By Phil Wernig VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Every banjo picker born after 1940, and every fan, student or performer of bluegrass music owes Earl Scruggs (1924 - 2012) an outstanding debt. Few musicians have ever accomplished for their particular instrument what Scruggs did for the 5-string banjo. He developed an extraordinary playing style from a suite of syncopated rhythmic devices that plucked virtue from the instrument's acoustic limitations, firmly established the banjo's role in the bluegrass ensemble, and revitalized the popularity of the instrument, in eclipse since the advent of swing music and electronic amplification in the early 1930s.
Principal in his legacy is the instructional work "Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo". Written in collaboration with Dr. Burt Brent (who wanted to expose the "anatomy" of Scruggs style) and Warren Kennison, Jr. (who transcribed the songs and exercises into tablature), the book was originally published in 1968 by Peer International Corporation and revised in 2005. The Hal-Leonard edition includes an audio CD of 60 lessons presented by Earl himself.
In addition to practical lessons for playing the banjo, the book includes a treasury of autobiographical anecdotes, a recapitulation of Scruggs' career and valuable information about the instrument itself from "Getting Acquainted With Your Banjo" to "How to Build a Banjo". There are detailed instructions for maintenance and repair, as well as intricate descriptions of optional banjo hardware, such as Scruggs tuners, capos and 5th string hooks. Louise Scruggs (Earl's wife) contributes a "Brief History of the 5-String Banjo". There are lucid, well-illustrated chapters on the elements of musical structure, chords, inversions, tunings, and tablature.... And there is of course a "Song Section" featuring the rudiments of 44 tunes recorded by Scruggs that Earl invites us to "try playing".
The heartbeat of the workbook is "Exercises in Picking", a 32-page section, supported by the audio CD, that provides as fine a starting point for the fledgling player as there is to be found anywhere. Atop each final measure in the practice exercises rides the laconic direction "Play many times" where the word "many" represents a value lying somewhere between 100 and 1,000,000.
Earl's music is pervasive. You may not recall when you first heard it - perhaps it was "The Ballad of Jed Clampett" from "The Beverly Hillbillies" or "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in "Bonnie and Clyde" - but you have Scruggs licks dancing in your head, as do we all. In his 2004 liner notes for the album "The Essential Earl Scruggs", Bela Fleck writes, "He creates the impression of a nonstop cascade of notes... His playing is so technically advanced, still you can hear the mud and dirt, wood and metal, flesh and bone... We're all still trying to sound like Earl."
From his debut on Nashville's "Grand Ole Opry" program in 1945 until his last days, this plainspoken genius from the Appalachian foothills of North Carolina never stopped amazing the musical world. With the aid of "Earl Scruggs and the 5-String Banjo", future musicians will forever be able to locate bluegrass at its roots to cultivate their own artistry. Read more ›